Survey will show library where to grow

A survey is in the works to find out what people want in a Carson City library.

Questions for the survey were decided this week by the Carson City Library Board.

Library Director Sally Edwards said the failure of a ballot initiative in 1998 sparked the decision to survey Carson's population.

"Because our ballot initiative failed last time, the library board decided it would be good to take some time and work with the university to do a true scientific study of what people want from the library and do our future planning based on that," she said.

There is no plan to put a new initiative on the 2000 ballot.

She said board members spent a lot of time working on the survey.

"We had about five workshops on it," she said. "There are so many things you can ask about the library."

The library did a survey before the ballot initiative but just among patrons.

"When we lost the ballot initiative, it was going back to the drawing board," she said. "We were really asking for a Band-Aid. This site is not big enough, and there is not enough parking. We don't even meet the present code."

The original library building was constructed in 1971 using money from the Max Fleischmann Foundation.

The Carson City Library was built in 1971 and expanded in 1982.

"Most of these cow county towns out east of here wouldn't have a library building if hadn't been for Max Fleischmann," she said. "We wouldn't have a library building if it hadn't been for Max Fleischmann."

The survey will not go out until September to take advantage of a University of Nevada, Reno statistics class which will help tabulate the data.

"They advised us that sending out a survey in the summer is not a good idea," she said. "This is good for the library and will be a benefit to the class."

She said she looks forward to finding out what the city's response is. About 700-800 residents will receive the survey.

"Then we will have some clear across the board idea of what people want from their library," she said.